Railway-car



C. BARRETT. Railway-Car.

No. 225,913 .Patented Mar. 30, 1880.

N. PETERS. PNOTOJJTHOGRAPHER. WASHINGTON. D C.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

UHABLES BARRETT, F SOMERVILLE, MASSACHUSETTS.

RAILWAY-CAR.

` SPECIFICATION formingpart of Letters Patent No. 225,913, dated March 30, 1880.

Application filed February 2, 1880. n

To all whom it may concern.'

Be it known that I, CHARLEs BARRETT, of Somerville, county of Middlesex, and State of Massachusetts, have invented certain useful Improvements in Railway-Cars, of which the following is a speciication.

My invention relates to cars in which the weight of the car-body is borne by springs resting immediately on the axle boxes or bearings.

The nature of said invention consists in the construction, arrangement, and combination ofthe springs and adjacent devices, as hereinafter more particularly set forth.

The drawings accompanying this specification represent, in Figure l, a side elevation, and in Fig. 2 a vertical section, of a truckfrarne containing my improvements.

ln the above-named drawings, the side sills or rails of the truck-frame are shown at A A, the axle-box hangers or housings at B B, the journal-boxes at a a, the axles at C C, the wheels at D D, and the journal-bearing plates at b b, the housings being secured rigidly to z5 the sills of the truck-frame, while the iioor of the car-body is shown at E, its cross-beams or transoms at F F, and its side sills at f f.

The elastic or spring agent between the car body and axle is shown in the present instance as composed of one or more coiled springs, c, enveloping one or more upright bars or posts, d (l, erected upon a base-plate or follower, e, which passes loosely through a slot or mortise, a', inthe sill of the truck-frame, and rests upon the top of thejournal-box, the posts d d passing upward loosely through the cross-beams or transoms F F, while the springs bear against the under side of such transoms, and are compressed to exert their stress between the latter and the journalbox, by which means the truck-frame is constituted merely a guide for the wheels and axles and follower-plates, and receives the thrusts and strains' of the car, while the load devolves directly upon the journal-boxes.

It will be seen that when a depression or elevation in one of the rails of the track is reached the springs compensate for this change in elevation, and all the wheels remain upon the rails, and this without materially changing the level of the car-Hoor, thereby avoiding twisting and straining of the latter, and preventing derailing of the car. Furthermore, by transferring the spring medium from between the top of the journal-box and the side sills or rails of the truck-frame to the space now unoccupied, between the bottom of the car and the said sills or rails of such truckframe, I lower the truck-frame a distance equal to the depth of the springs, thereby gaining an important point in bringing the line of draft nearer the truck-frames.

As before stated, the springs c c serve to insure at all times connection between the rails andwheels; but to adaptthe car to heavy loads, which would tend to overcome or break down said springs, I employ additional springs g g, also encircling upright rods or posts h 71 which are erected upon the follower-plate c, and pass loosely through the transoms, as stated, while the latter springs, g g, are not, as with the iirst, compressed to constantly exert their stress between the top of the journal-box or housing and the car-body, as with the lighter springs, but are arranged to come into play through the medium of the follower-plates only when the lighter springs are compressed to a considerable, but not their fullest, extent.

In lieu of the follower-plate c, interposed between the journal-box and car-iloor, and constituting a support for the springs and posts, as shown, such plate may be omitted, and the posts or rods rest directly upon the top of the journahbox, a collar or other projection, t', be-

ing formed upon the post to receive the lower ends ofthe springs.

In the drawings I show the follower-plate at one end of the truck-frame, and the simple posts and springs at the other end, to illustrate both methods, my object in employing the follower-plate being to obtain a greater spring-surface than the limited area of the top of the journal-box would permit of.

To avoid subjecting the follower-plate and springs to the strains of end-thrusts upon the car-body and truck-frame, I employ a yoke or strap, j, erected upon the draw-bar timbers of the truck-frame, and passing loosely over and about the transom f, the play between the fol- 2. The combination of yokes 7 with followers Io lower -plate and the mortise a in the truck-` F, springs e g g, and the eartruok, ear-body, sill being;` greater than between the yoke and and axle-boxes7 substantially as set forth. transom.

I elaim- 1. In combination with differential springs c g g, the follower e, rods CZ h h, and the ear- Witnesses: body and oar-axle box7 substantially as set WM. T. ANDREWS, forth. A H. E. LODGE.

CHARLES BARRETT. 

